Posts by freedomlover

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

XBEHERE-

definitely speak to him in person too though

I most certainly will.....this is just to let him know before rumors start circulating through the rumor mill back where all our extended family is...............

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

XBEHERE-

I know how the organization works and by telling anyone these things, that I have just told you, I could disfellowshipped for apostasy. I could loose everyone that I love, and could be shunned the rest of my life. Believe me, I tried to forget what I learned, but I can’t. I feel like I am living a lie. I just cannot do that, no matter what the cost
Freedomlover,
I think what you said above really is the bottom line for you. You need to do this for yourself. If only I had the courage, strength, and fortitude to do exactly what you and ITIS are doing I would be free at last too. Since you have made up your mind already about being a JW and you are never going back it is loving for you to explain this to your dad in person. I wish the best of luck and my thoughts are with you.

thanks XBEHERE. that is what I was thinking. this letter is a foundation on which to build. I need to let my dad digest this first, and then I can speak to him about this and let him know how serious my itentions are of never going back. The very first time ITIS talked to me he had already decided to not be a JW and it made me so mad that he had made this huge decision without ever even asking me or consulting me. Knowing my dad, he would not respond well to me making such a huge decision without at least giving him the opportunity to "encourage" me back to the org. that's why it may seem like my letter sounds like I'm kind of undecided still.

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

go right ahead vitty, lord knows I've taken ideas from other people here! lol

let us know how it goes....

my next letter today is to my best friend (a JW) and my little brother....ugh. what a day. but it needs to be done, and it actually feels really good to get this stuff out.

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

I do hear what you are all saying. See my dad is the king of bible prophecy stuff. He loves it, devours it. I also called him months ago and asked him to explain how JW's came up with 607. He gave me this long answer and then said "well even if they are off, like secular history says, 1914 was dead on, so it has to be right." So, you see, if I raise a doubt he will start to look on his own. I kind of want him to find it on his own. If he is starts hitting a wall like I did, I will give him that KISS list of kings and their reigning years that ITIS gave me and that's it. I'll let him fill in the blanks. Me and my dad are a lot alike and I would have resented someone shoving a lot of info. in my face and proving me and my beloved religion wrong. I think it's how he needs to hear it....

but like I said....it's really good to hear these ideas and I'm contemplating all of them....

thank you, thank you, thank you!

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

Narkissos - thank you.

true. true. I have seemed to understate my doubts because knowing my father, he will be very upset if he thinks I have reached such conclusions before I have consulted with him somewhat. I kind of almost want to have him try to "encourage" me so I can show him then what I've found and then give him a little more of an idea where I stand - being totally done with the JW's.

I agree about speaking with him. However, due to a very complicated situation with extended family and others I'm afraid we may have to make our viewpoints known soon and I wanted to break this to him first. It's a very hard bomb shell to just call on the phone and hope he's not in the middle of something and then tell him everything. My dad's first response will be heartbreak and I don't know if I could take seeing that in him. My father has carried tremendous guilt and sadness because of many of his life experiences. My hurting him further kills me. Call me a coward, but emotionally I don't think I could handle seeing my dad heartbroken by this news.

I will consider your thoughts though. thank you again

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

Dear Dad,

I am sending you this letter because there are some things I need to talk to you about and I really don’t know how else to do this but to send you a letter. You sent me an email the other day about how I can always talk to you and I hope that this letter will find you with that same thought. I wanted to speak to you in person when you came up here, but it looks like you won’t be up here for awhile, and I really need to talk to you about this.

About 6 months ago, when we started studying the Daniel book again, I started to do research on what we were learning. My main intention was to strengthen my faith and finally once and for all understand the bible prophecies that I was supposed to know. I started trying to put dates and events in order and it was not adding up. I went round and round for weeks trying to understand the dates and events and kings activities in the bible and in the publications. Finally I came up with a timeline using the society’s publications and then adding in dates, events, and kings. What I came up with was a huge contradiction. I was so confused, and upset that I actually called you. Do you remember that? I also spoke with two elders in our hall about it, who in turn asked the CO about it. No valid answer was given to me. Instead they questioned my motives as to why I was asking! I don’t have a problem with bible history coinciding with archeological and secular history. Those two lines add up perfectly and actually reinforce the bible’s authenticity. The problem I’m having is with the Society’s dates. They don’t match up with the bible or secular and archaeological dates. That has made me question why they would do that.

After this upsetting incident I started researching other areas. Please keep in mind, all I was using was the Society’s publications, different translations of the bible, and a few encyclopedia’s, and bible commentaries. What I have found about the history of the Society and the teachings are not always bible based. I have prayed to Jehovah about this many times. Gut-wrenching, soul-searching, prayers and begged him to help me to understand to what to do. Telling you these things puts me in a horrible predicament. I know how the organization works and by telling anyone these things, that I have just told you, I could disfellowshipped for apostasy. I could loose everyone that I love, and could be shunned the rest of my life. Believe me, I tried to forget what I learned, but I can’t. I feel like I am living a lie. I just cannot do that, no matter what the cost. I am not a threat to the congregation. I don’t plan on discussing these issues with anyone else. I just want to walk away and start over. I’m not planning on becoming immoral, or becoming a Satan worshiper. What I am finding is the world isn’t as scary as I’ve always been taught.

I would be more than willing to show you any and all articles I’ve found. There are contradictions throughout the history of the Society and its literature. I cannot agree with teachings that I feel are not bible based. One example is the disfellowshipping arrangement. Now that I have my own children, I could never shun them just because they have erred. Motivating someone by using guilt and fear is not the way to do it. Not according to the bible and not according to my own beliefs as a human being and a parent.

I didn’t want to do this through a letter, and I didn’t want to bring this up before XXXX’s wedding, however certain family members are being rather aggressive and I needed to talk to you about this before you heard it from someone else.

Little did I know, but ITIS was doing research the same time I was, and the things he was finding were just as disturbing to him. He knows how I feel about all of this and he is in agreement with pretty much everything I’ve told you here. We are fine talking to you about this, and I don’t mind if you share this letter with XXXX (my stepmom), because I trust her with this. As of right now, we would like to sit back and do more research and praying about this and keep a low profile which would mean a break from meetings.

My main concern would be that I am hurting you. I feel like I am going to break your heart with this news, and that kills me. You don’t even know how much. I beg Jehovah that you will not shun me, or my family. I know you know me a reasonable, cautious person. This was not an overnight decision for us. The last few months have been hell for us, knowing what we could stand to loose.

My last thought is this. If this is “The Truth” it should stand up to criticism and testing. In my opinion, it hasn’t, in areas I feel it should.

I love you.
I will wait to hear from you.

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

Dear Dad,

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

Dear Dad,

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

crap not coming through....I'll try again

37

my letter to my dad. what do you think?

by freedomlover in

hey you all.

well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad.

if you want to read it and give me any feedback i'd truly appreciate it.

freedomlover

Hey you all. Well finally got the courage to put this all down on paper for my dad. If you want to read it and give me any feedback I'd truly appreciate it.

Dear Dad,